1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to solar-powered outdoor lighting. More specifically, the invention relates to pole-mounted lighting that is powered by solar energy by means of a photovoltaic panel on the outside surface of the pole and batteries or other storage devices. The invented outdoor lighting has a structure, shape, and profile that look much like conventional street lights, for matching pre-existing street lights and/or accommodating local or governmental aesthetic preferences.
2. Related Art
Solar-powered street lights and light fixtures have been developed in the past. For example, the patent literature includes: Robbins (U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,188, issued Sep. 22, 1992); Yoshida (U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,658, issued May 9, 2000); Wang (U.S. Pat. No. 6,784,357, issued Aug. 31, 2004); and Doppelt (U.S. Pat. D517,233, issued Mar. 14, 2006). Also, solar-powered street lights have been available commercially and/or tested publicly that include flat panel(s) of solar cells in a rack or frame, said flat panels typically being supported above the light pole. Such flat panels of solar cells are typically visually distracting and/or aesthetically unappealing, as they are a large protuberance from the street light and/or have the appearance of a large platform supported atop the street light. Yoshida discloses a street light with multiple flat panels of solar cells provided vertically on more than one side of a street light pole. Yoshida and the other prior art known to the inventor, however, do not address or solve many of the issues that the present inventor has found to be important in providing an efficient, economical, temperature-versatile, long-life, and aesthetically-pleasing solar-powered outdoor light system.
Therefore, there is still a need for an outdoor lighting system that is highly efficient in collecting and storing energy from the suns rays, and in using said energy over several nights to light a surrounding area even through inclement, overcast periods of time. The present invention meets these needs. Preferred embodiments utilize a cooling system that may greatly increase battery life and efficiency of the entire system. Preferred embodiments also utilize an efficient, versatile LED light fixture that may be used for all or nearly all street light styles without the need to separately engineer LED fixtures for each lamp/fixture style desired by the public, government, or neighborhood. Preferred embodiments have a visually-integrated appearance, preferably without flat panels of solar cells, and preferably with minimal or no unaesthetic protuberances and exposed equipment.